Cable armor clamp

ABSTRACT

To secure a double layer of armor wires of a cable to a bulkhead forming the wall of a splice casing, a pair of heavy rings are aligned between two plates. The armor wires of each layer are folded around one of the rings and gripped by tightening bolts that connect the plates, one of which is then bolted to the bulkhead. An armor holding tool and method of using are also described.

United States Patent 1 Alleva et a1.

[451 Dec. 17, 1974 1 1 CABLE ARMOR CLAMP [75] Inventors: Leon L. Alleva;Ralph G. DAscoli,

both of Yonkers, NY.

[73] Assignee: The Anaconda Company, New

York, N.Y. I

[22] Filed: Apr. 24, 1973 [211 Appl. No: 354,063

Primary ExaminerDarrell L. Clay Attorney, Agent, or FirmVictor F. Volk I57] ABSTRACT 6 Claims, 18 Drawing Figures 1521 [1.8. CI 174/89,24/l22..6, 29/461, 29/628, 174/89, 269/83 [511 1nl. C1 H02g 15/08 [58]Field 01' Search 174/89, 79, 70 S, 65 R; 24/122.3, 122.6; 403/192, 199,187, 260, 261

[ 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,497,002 6/1924 Sanderson174/89 X PMENTED DEC] 71974 SHEET 5 BF 5 CABLE ARMOR CLAMP BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION In application Kothe et al., Ser. No. 116,845, filed Feb.19, 1971 now abandoned and divisional application thereof, Ser. No.347,318, now US. Pat. No. 3,812,283, assigned to the present assignee,there has been described a cable system wherein electric cablescomprising two layers of flat armor wire from a continuous tensilesystem with the splice casings by which lengths of the cable areconnected. To this purpose the lengthwise walls of the splice casingshave great tensile strength and the armor wires are connected to the endwalls, which serve as bulkheads, of the splice casings. To makeconnections whereby the tensile stresses in the flat wires, which may bevery great, are transferred to the casing, both layers of wires arewrapped around a ring that is compressed between two plates. In practicethis connection has proven too troublesome to make, to be completelysatisfactory, and the double thickness of tapes cannot be grippeduniformly. An attempt to solve a similar problem is described in LowePat. No. 1,246,964 wherein two concentric wedges fit over each other toclamp armor wires by wedging them under tension within a conical sleeve.The structure of the Lowe connection is objectionable in that therequired elements are not readily machinable, special castings beingrequired for the conical sleeve and wedges, and require a large radialdisplacement. More importantly, however, the Lowe connection does notprovide positive clamping of the armor wires, since wedging actionoccurs only when they are under tension. Furthermore, when the armor isunder tension the wires of the outer layer are pulled down against thewires of the inner layer and individual wires of the outer layer can bewedged between the wires in the inner layer with the result that tensionis not evenly shared.

The flat armor wires of which the dimensions are disclosed in theabove-referenced Kothe et a1. application and which have particularapplicability to the present invention are stiff and springy to anextent that makes splicing difficult, particularly when the cable hastwo layers of such armor. Adequate splicing tools and methods for makingsplices or securing such heavy armor wires to a bulkhead have not beenknown.

SUMMARY We have invented an apparatus for securing inner and outeroverlying layers of cable armor wires to a bulkhead, comprising a firstheavy metal plate comprising a passageway for the cable along with thelayers of armor covering it, and a second heavy metal plate comprising apassageway for the cable without the armor wires. The second plate has aconcave area in its surface surrounding the passageway. Our apparatusalso comprises a first metal ring that fits around the outer layer ofthe armor wires and comprises a flat surface facing toward the firstplate and a convex surface facing away from the first plate. It furthercomprises a second heavy metal ring that fits around the inner layer ofarmor wires and is axially displaced from the first ring. This secondring comprises a concave surface matchingly facing toward the convexsurface of-the first ring and a convex surface that faces away from thefirst ring and matches the concave area of the second plate. Also ourapparatus comprises means, such preferably as headed bolts that fitthrough smooth holes in the first plate and thread into matching tappedholes in the second plate, clampingly urging the first and second platestogether thereby securing the armor wires of the outer layer between thefirst and second rings these wires having been folded radially aroundthe first ring and securing the armor wires of the inner layer betweenthe second ring and the second plate, these inner layer wires havingbeen folded radially around the second ring. Finally means are providedto secure the second plate to the bulkhead.

To prevent slippage of the armor wires the concave area of the secondplate, convex surface of the first ring and concave and convex surfacesof the second ring preferably all, and at least one, comprisecircumferential ridges. Preferably, also, matching alignment holes areprovided in the convex surface of the first ring and concave surface ofthe second ring with alignment pins in the holes to align the ringsduring assembly.

Our tool for securing armor wires of a cable into an apparatus includingat least one ring member comprises first and second substantiallyhalf-cylindrical members, means for lockingly combining thehalfcylindrical members around the cable thereby gripping the cable, andsubstantially semicircular radial projections on each of thehalf-cylindrical members, which projections combine to form a radialflange when the half-cylindrical members are combined around the cable.Our tool comprises a plurality of substantially uniformly spacedapertures through the flange and a like plurality of radial slotsopening from the apertures. The width of the slots is sufficient toaccept the wires but the diameters of the apertures greatly exceedsthese widths so that wires introduced through the slots are retained inthe apertures. Preferably, our tool will comprise semicircular recessesin the half-cylindrical members fitting a projection on the ring memberfor temporarily securing the ring member to the tool. It will alsopreferably comprise a marking notch around the semicylindrical membersat their ends remote from the flange to guide the cutting of the wires.

In our method of securing the flat armor wires of a cable to a bulkheadwe insert a cut end of the cable,

through an aperture in a first heavy metal plate and secure a splitcylindrical wire holding tool around the cable between this plate andthe cut end. The tool com prises a flange having a plurality ofapertures and a like plurality of radial slots opening from theapertures and the tool is secured with its end remote from the flangefacing the cut end of the cable. We then fit a heavy metal ring aroundthe cable against the tool and bend each of the armor wires around thering, over the tool and through one of the slots into one of theapertures and twist the wires thereby to retain them in the apertures.We bind the bended wires down upon the ring and sever them in acircumferential line around the ring. Finally, after removing the toolfrom the cable, advancing the first plate against the ring, insertingthe cable through an aperture in a second heavy metal plate and urgingthe first and second plates together to compress them against the ringand the wires the second plate is secured to the bulkhead.

In our method of securing two concentric layers of flat wires of a cableto a bulkhead we insert a cut end of the cable through an aperture in aheavy metal plate and secure a split cylindrical wire-holding tool, ashereinabove, around the cable between the plate and the cut end. We fita first heavy metal ring around the cable against the tool and bend eachwire of an outer of the layers around the ring, over the tool, throughone of the slots into one of the apertures and twist it to retain it inthe aperture. We then fit a second heavy metal ring around the cableagainst the portions of the wires that have been bent around the firstring and bend each wire of an inner of the layers around the secondring, over the tool, through one of the slots into one of the aper turesand twist it to retain it in the aperture. We bind the bended wires ofboth layers down upon the first ring, sever the bended wires of bothlayers in a circumferential line around the first ring, remove the toolfrom the cable and advance the first plate against the first ring. Wethen insert the cable through an aperture in a second heavy metal plate,urge the plates together to compress the wires of the outer layerbetween the rings and the wires of the inner layer between the secondring and the second plate and secure the second plate to the bulkhead.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 shows a section of a first ringcomprised in our apparatus.

FIG. 2 shows a section of a second ring comprised in our apparatus.

FIG. 3 shows a sectionalized lengthwise view of our apparatus.

FIG. 4 shows a side view of a tool of our invention.

FIG. 5 shows an end view of the tool of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows a section through the lines 6-6 of FIG. 4.

FIGS. 7a7l show steps of a method of our inventlon.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 3 in ourapparatus, indicated generally by the numeral 10, a cable 11 with aninner layer 12 of flat armor wires 13, an outer layer 14, comprising theidentical type of wires, and a jacket 20 has the armor wires connectedto a bulkhead 15 which forms a wall of a splice casing, not shown. Aheavy steel plate 16 has a passageway 17 fitting over the layer 14 andjacket 20, and a second heavy steel plate 118 has a passageway I9fitting over a cable core 21 without the armor wires. A heavy steel ring22 (see also FIG. I) has a flat surface 23 that faces and fits againstthe plate 16. The ring 22 also has a convex surface 24 which isconveniently semicircular in section and is circumferentially cut with aplurality of fine ridges 26 to increase its gripping effect, as shall befurther explained. A second heavy steel ring 27 (see also FIG. 2) isaxially displaced from the ring 22 but engages the ring 22 by virtue ofa concave surface 28 having the same or slightly greater radius ofcurvature, in section, as the surface 24. Flat wires 13 of the outerlayer 14 are folded over the ring 22 around the convex surface 24 andback against a cylindrical surface 29 of the ring 22 which is elongatedin section sufficiently to provide an adequate surface 29. The surface28 has circumferential ridges 31 which cooperate with the ridges 26 togrip the folded-over wires. Two alignment holes 32, 33 spaced 180 apartin the ring 22 and matching alignment holes 34, 35 in the ring 27receive two pins 36, 37 that support the ring 27 during the making of aconnection and keep it properly centered. The ring 27 has a convexsurface 38 with circumferential ridges 39 and the flat wires from theinner layer 12 are folded over the ring 27 around the surface 38 backover the surface 29 where all the folded-back wires 13 are held by ahose clamp 41. A concave area 42 in the plate 18 matches the convexsurface 38 of the ring 27. This area 42 is also cut to form ridges 43.The plate 18 has six tapped holes 44 matching six smooth holes 46 in theplate 16 by which the plates can be compressed together by means ofbolts 47 having heads 48 to clamp the rings 22, 27 between them andfirmly grip the wires 13. Six additional tapped holes 49 in the plate18, matching smooth holes 51 in the bulkhead l5 enable the plate l8, andthus the apparatus 10 to be applied to the bulkhead by means of bolts52.

Armor wires, particularly heavy flat armor wires such as the wires 13are not easily bent or otherwise manipulated and the making ofterminations or splices in heavy armored cables can be very difficultparticularly where the bulkhead, to which the armor is to be attached,is awkwardly placed. In our apparatus the entire assembly can becompleted first in a convenient position and only then need attachmentbe made to the bulkhead by means of the bolts 52. Since the diameters ofthe rings 22, 27 exceed the diameter of the cable II, it is clear thatwhen the armor wires, which cover the surface of the cable, are foldedaround the rings, there will be sufficient circumference of the rings topermit the wires to be folded without overlapping. Thus each of thewires l3 in the layer 14 will be gripped individually between thesurfaces 24, 28 and each of the wires in the layer ll2 will be grippedindividually between the surfaces 38, 42. The bolts 47 can be tightenedto grip the wires against any desired amount of wire tension, andtension in the armor wires, such as that imposed by pulling forces onthe cable, will have no tendency to relieve any of the wires from thegripping surfaces such as would occur if the wires were superimposedupon each other within the gripping surfaces. It is convenient to fixthe pins 36, 37 permanently into the holes 32, 33 as by press fittingand provide a slide fit into the holes 34, 35 The ring 27 need then befitted over the pins only after the wires of the outside layer have beenfolded into position around the ring 22.

We have found that the implementation of our apparatus I0 is greatlyfacilitated by the use of a tool indicated generally by the numeral 53(FIGS. 4-6). The tool 53 is made up of two heavy metal half-cylinders54, 56 the mating portions of which have been slightly planed to providetighter gripping action around the cable III. A flange 57 forms from tworadial semicircular projections 58, 59 of the half-cylinders 54, 56. Theflange 57 has a plurality of uniformly distributed apertures 6ll, eachwith a radial slot 62 opening from it. The number and size of theapertures 61 is sufficient to hold all of the wires 13 although it maybe necessary to place more than one wire in some or all of theapertures. The apertures 61 are conveniently circular so that they canbe conventionally drilled, but other shapes can be used particularly,for round armor wires, shapes that do not curve into the slot openings.The diameters of the apertures 611 are much larger than the widths ofthe slots 62 being, preferably, at least three times as large. For flatarmor wires 0.20 X 0.05 inch the slots 62 are 0.10 inch wide and thediameters of the apertures 61 are 0.32

inch. Smooth holes 63, 64 in the half-cylinder 54 and tapped holes 66,67 in the half-cylinder 56 permit the half-cylinders to be clamped andtightened around the cable by means of headed bolts of which a bolt 68is shown in FIG. 4.

Reliefs 69, 71 provide clearance for the boltheads. Slots 72, 73 in thehalf-cylinder 56 provide convenient means for prying apart thehalf-cylinders, as with -a screwdriver. A countersink 74 provided byrecesses in the half-cylinders matches a projection 76 of the ring 22and a v-notch 77 in the portion of the tool overlapping the projection76 serves as a guide for cutting the wires, as shall be shown. It isimportant that the notch 77 should be so placed on the tool 53 that cutends of the wires not project beyond the ring 22 and prevent the surface23 from seating against the plate 16.

A method of using our apparatus to secure a double layer of armor wiresto the bulkhead is shown in FIGS. 7a7l. In FIG. 7a a cut end 78 of thecable 11 has been inserted through the passageway 17 of the plate 16.The plastic jacket over the armor wires has been removed to a point 81and the half-cylinder 56 fitted over the jacket 20 and the armor wiresto the point 81. The mating half-cylinder 54 is then locked against themember 56 by means of bolts of the type of the bolt 68 (FIG. 7b). Absentany jacket 20 the tool 53 will be applied directly over the outer layer14 of armor wires. The ring 22 is then fitted over the layer 14 (FIG.70) and the projection 76 inserted into the countersink 74. Each of thefiat wires 13 of the outer layer 14 is seized at the cut end 78 foldedover the ring 22 (FIG. 7d) and tool 53 and inserted into one of theslots 62. This is accomplished without interference of the pins 36, 37by spreading apart the wires to bypass the pins. To enter the slots 62the long dimensions of the wires 13 must be radial but after they havebeen inserted into the apertures 61 the wires are turned so that thelong dimensions are circumferential, securing them in the flange 57.After all the wires 13 in the layer 14 have been thus folded over thering 22 and into the apertures 61 the ring 27 is fitted (FIG. 7e) ontothe pins 36, 37, singly against the folded-over wires. The wires 13 ofthe layer 12 are then folded (FIG. 7]) over the ring 27 and secured, asbefore, through the slots 62 into the apertures 61. The hose clamp 41 isapplied (FIG. 7g) over all the wires and tightened against the ring 22.First the wires of the layer 12 and then later the wires of the layer 14are partially cut through (FIG. 7h) with a hack-saw 82 or equivalenttool using the v-notch 77 as a guide. After the wires of each layer havebeen cut, each of the individual wires is broken by repeated bending(FIG. 7i) at its partially cut section. The cut ends of the wires 13having been discarded the tool 53 is removed after loosening the bolts68 and the plate 16 brought forward against the flat surface 23 (FIG.7j). For the plate 16 to abut against the surface 23 it is essentialthat none of the wires 13 should protrude from this surface. This hasbeen accomplished by having the notch 77 in a portion of the tool 53overlapping the projection of the ring 22. The plate 18 is then fittedover the cable, brought up to the wires that have been folded over thering 27 (FIG. 7k) so that the wires enter the concave area 42. The bolts47 are then inserted and tightened with a torque wrench to 100foot-pounds torque, drawing the plates 16 and 18 together to clamp thewires 13 securely. This plate 18 is finally bolted to the bulkhead 15 bymeans of the bolts 52 (FIG. 7]). Where the bulkhead 15 is comprised offlanges of a split splice casing, as described in the aforementionedapplication Ser. No. 116,845, the core of the cable will be spliced inan appropriate manner prior to bolting the plate 18 to the bulkhead 15.Appropriate methods of splicing cable cores are known and do notcomprise a novel element of the present invention.

The foregoing description of our apparatus and method has been exemplaryrather than definitive of our invention for which we desire an award ofLetters Patent as defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for securing inner and outer overlying layers of cablearmor wires to a bulkhead, comprising:

A. a first heavy metal plate having a passageway for said cable, saidcable being covered by said layers of armor wires,

B. a second heavy metal plate having a passageway for said cable absentsaid armor wires, said second plate having a concave area surroundingsaid passageway,

C. a first heavy metal ring fitting around the outer layer of said armorwires, said ring being positioned between said first and said secondplates and having a flat surface facing toward said first plate and aconvex surface facing away from said first plate and toward said secondplate,

D. a second heavy metal ring positioned between said first and saidsecond plates fitting around the inner layer of said armor wires, saidsecond ring being concentric to and axially displaced from said firstring, said second ring having a concave surface matchingly facing towardsaid convex surface of said first ring and also having a convex surfacefacing away from said first ring matching said concave area of saidsecond plate,

E. means clampingly urging together said first and said second plates,thereby securing said armor wires of said outer layer between saidconvex surface of said first ring and said concave surface of saidsecond ring, said armor wires of said outer layer being folded radiallyaround said first ring, and securing said armor wires of said innerlayer between said convex surface of said second ring and said concavearea of said second plate, said armor wires of said inner layer beingfolded radially around said second ring, and

F. means for securing said second plate to said bulkhead. i

2. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising circumferential ridges in atleast one of the group consisting of said concave area of said secondplate, said convex surface of said first ring, said concave surface ofsaid second ring, and said convex surface of said second ring, saidridges preventing slippage of said armor wires.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 comprising alignment holes in said convexsurface of said first ring, matching alignment holes in said concavesurface of said second ring and alignment pins in said holes.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising tapped holes in said second plateand matching smooth holes in said first plate, wherein said urging meanscomprises headed bolts fitting through said smooth holes and threadinginto said tapped holes.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 comprising alignment holes in said convexsurface of said first ring, matching alignment holes in said concavesurface of said second ring and alignment pins in said holes.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising alignment holes in said convexsurface of said first ring, matching alignment holes in said concavesurface of said second ring and alignment pins in said holes.

1. Apparatus for securing inner and outer overlying layers of cable armor wires to a bulkhead, comprising: A. a first heavy metal plate having a passageway for said cable, said cable being covered by said layers of armor wires, B. a second heavy metal plate having a passageway for said cable absent said armor wires, said second plate having a concave area surrounding said passageway, C. a first heavy metal ring fitting around the outer layer of said armor wires, said ring being positioned between said first and said second plates and having a flat surface facing toward said first plate and a convex surface facing away from said first plate and toward said second plate, D. a second heavy metal ring positioned between said first and said second plates fitting around the inner layer of said armor wires, said second ring being concentric to and axially displaced from said first ring, said second ring having a concAve surface matchingly facing toward said convex surface of said first ring and also having a convex surface facing away from said first ring matching said concave area of said second plate, E. means clampingly urging together said first and said second plates, thereby securing said armor wires of said outer layer between said convex surface of said first ring and said concave surface of said second ring, said armor wires of said outer layer being folded radially around said first ring, and securing said armor wires of said inner layer between said convex surface of said second ring and said concave area of said second plate, said armor wires of said inner layer being folded radially around said second ring, and F. means for securing said second plate to said bulkhead.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising circumferential ridges in at least one of the group consisting of said concave area of said second plate, said convex surface of said first ring, said concave surface of said second ring, and said convex surface of said second ring, said ridges preventing slippage of said armor wires.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 comprising alignment holes in said convex surface of said first ring, matching alignment holes in said concave surface of said second ring and alignment pins in said holes.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising tapped holes in said second plate and matching smooth holes in said first plate, wherein said urging means comprises headed bolts fitting through said smooth holes and threading into said tapped holes.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 comprising alignment holes in said convex surface of said first ring, matching alignment holes in said concave surface of said second ring and alignment pins in said holes.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising alignment holes in said convex surface of said first ring, matching alignment holes in said concave surface of said second ring and alignment pins in said holes. 